Anthony Bucci: Opportunity Clicks

Sunday, June 12, 2016

For 2016 I was asked to deliver the Drexel Graduation Keynote for the College of Computers and Informatics. An honor, challenge and responsibility for sure.

It was a big year for RevZilla with a ton of press. Pretty neat to have some new doors flung open.

My mom wouldn't stop crying from the front row and I'm not sure if the faculty appreciated some of my easter eggs- but the undergrads seemed to respond well to the "Top 5 Ways to Maximize Their Nerdvantage". I even had a parent or two high five me on our procession out.

I begin at about 15:30.

Very surreal these times we live in.... Did Drexel know that I accidentally hit a 7 iron toward a pickup soccer game from my front porch, once? Maybe not.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

I am still not quite sure exactly why our landlord loves to star in our RevZillaTV videos, but he continues to oblige us whenever we call - so long as RevZilla's rent is paid on time.

This 2011 holiday season Eli starred in a few videos and our latest for RevZilla's December Deals is one of my personal favorites of all time. Ironically enough, it had the lowest budget and took less than an hour to shoot.

Happy holidays to everyone out there and those folks who continue to help support RevZilla.com, whether by voting with their credit cards, busting their hump as part of TeamZilla or continuing to help guide Matt, Nick and I along the way.

Monday, May 09, 2011

We are still unsure about the lasting impact on this one or the brand message it conveys to our audience. While we were filming it, it felt a bit "phoned in". We only became more comfortable with the fruits of this effort after one of our staff choked due to spontaneous, uncontrollable laughter during the internal screening. The title of said screening was "are we sure we want to do this?"

I am also still not sure if we produce these for our customers or purely for our own amusement. Some days it feels like 11th grade video production class - with a real budget.

Submitted for your approval, I give you Cinco de Moto 2011: A Revolution of Savings.

On a side note, we wished we would have filmed the looping sessions with Eli playing Castro. He kept doing this odd high-pitched half French, half Gollum from Lord of the Rings, voice. There was a welcomed, yet slightly confusing, absurdity to it all.

Thursday, May 05, 2011

After being at the co-helm of a start-up (which is now an emerging business) for the last 3.5 years, I have learned a ton about what I know, what I thought I knew and what I need to learn more about. There are many online resources that I follow and digest daily, as well as some which serve as great reference points on a slew of business topics which are both leading edge and fundamental.

Since I graduated in '04, I have always had a twinge of "would an MBA be coming in handy right how" as we have enacted strategies for RevZilla.com addressing business elements which we know have been solved by every other company in their comeuppance. Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling of reinventing the wheel.

These days I have more of a comfort level in the fact that over my education and early career I had "learned how to learn". If I don't know something, I am confident in my ability to get the answer through a number of channels; the interwebs, my colleagues, advisors, mentors etc. Being secure on that front helps me to sleep a bit better these days.

One of my favorite daily resources is AVC.com, the blog of venture capitalist Fred Wilson. It's a great commentary on the current start-up ecosystem, market trends, investment community and his "MBA Mondays" section continues to be interesting and valuable. The community leaving comments on any of his posts are the icing on the cake.

My co-founders and I always joke that we are getting the "start-up MBA". On the fly. On the web. Putting it to use, every day. We are living our own case study.

It's thanks to guys like Fred, who are sharing a career worth of knowledge and insight, daily, which continue to make this possible and allow us to learn from his wins and losses, albeit at an arms length. I hope to be able to pay it forward like that at some point. It would also be nice to bump into him and get a chance to say "Thank you" in person as well. The tech entrepreneur world is becoming big and small at the same time. It will probably happen.

If you still are not sold, they also have Fake Grimlock. Find his comments. Thoughtful and funny. You will laugh. Unless you are unfunny.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

A friend recently turned me onto StellaService - they are positioning themselves as the Michelin Guide for online retailers. Seeing as "customer experience" is what we believe to be RevZilla's holy grail, I am eager to get enough nominations for them to take a peek at us - and hopefully shower us with rose petals, adulation and potentially Cristal.

I also had a chance to chat with one of their co-founders on the phone and ended our conversation thinking they were pretty sharp in their approach to an already crowded space. I wish their company success in the start-up ecosystem.

If you would like to nominate us I would greatly appreciate it. You can find the RevZilla StellaService nomination page here.

Friday, April 08, 2011

I love that RevZilla has made it to the point hat we can help the next generation via a RevZilla Scholarship. I guess it's a bit of a side affect of being old and somewhat successfully running the business - yikes. But I like affecting the youths none the less.

I'm also not sure if I am most happy about offering the help or thinking that the winner might just throw a ridiculous party with his or her winnings and maybe "make it rain" at some point.

Either way I am happy to do it and got to have a bit of fun writing up the entry form.

Here is how I started:

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We're giving away $1000 bucks. You could win. It would obviously rule.

Headed to college and want to win $1000 bucks to buy books, food or other "stuff"? Enter the RevZilla.com College Scholarship Contest and win $1000 bucks. Its simple, answer in 500-1000 words one of the following questions...

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Who would of thought I could add "Donor" to my credentials at 30 in a way that did not involve my organs.